12? 13? They are really just numbers. But when paired with Bruins victories it means something to the people of the northeast, and the rest of the NHL. The Bruins are playing their best hockey at the most critical time of year. And this isn’t just “best hockey,” it’s the most lethal combination of skill, luck, and effort combined into one powerful bear: the Bruin.
“Well I think I have to give them – the players – a lot of credit because I haven’t had to do much,” said Bruins Coach Claude Julien after Monday’s morning skate.
“They’ve kind of, I guess they’ve gotten used to it. They know it works around here, they know what’s served us best in the past and we’re a team that goes game by game. I haven’t talked about it, they haven’t really talked about it, the streak is basically your guys’ job to talk about.”
The Montreal Canadiens didn’t quite play the role of David – considering their sustained success against the Bruins throughout their entire existence – but they had a tall task on hand at the Garden on Monday, looking to halt the Bruins’ win streak at 12 games.
Early in the first period things got physical.
After Alexei Emelin thumped Milan Lucic with a questionable open ice hit, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara took matters into his own hands by taking out Emelin, who predictably turtled. Chara was given two minutes for roughing.
A displeased Lucic referred to Emelin as a “chicken” post-game. (Can these teams please meet in the postseason again?)
The Habs failed to score on the ensuing power play, but were quickly awarded another man-advantage after Kevan Miller was whistled for crosschecking, just seconds before he pummeled Travis Moen in a fight.
Emelin again made his mark, this time scoring with a wrist shot from the point and giving Montreal a 1-0 lead.
The first period was the typical Boston-Montreal cat-and-mouse game we’ve grown accustomed to.
Montreal agitates the Bruins, baiting them into taking retaliatory penalties and capitalizing with their deadly power play units. Sometimes the Bruins can retaliate, dominate the physical play and win as well, but tonight – at least in the first period – Montreal got the better of them.
When asked about discipline post-game, Julien reiterated that his team must contain their emotions and respond better.
“The [Brad] Marchand penalty was frustration because he got tripped on the faceoff before — it wasn’t called. Those are things that are gonna happen in a game and you can’t retaliate by taking a bad penalty. [Johnny] Boychuk’s penalty was a bad one, either, so you know, there’s discipline, but they didn’t score on those, so that’s not why we lost. But I think we have to be better disciplined against them.”
So, how do you stop it?
“Simple — you don’t let it happen,” he said. “Just because they won tonight in a shootout doesn’t mean we’re going to go into the playoffs and have the same kind of situation here. If we happen to meet them in the playoffs, and that’s an if, then we’ll deal with it, but you can be sure that that’s not going to happen.”
The second period told a similar tale. The Bruins scoring chances improved dramatically, but the result stayed the same.
Things escalated late in the frame when Johnny Boychuk and P.K. Subban exchanged pleasantries behind the play, ending with Subban (who instigated) on the ice and Boychuk headed to the penalty box. This game looked much like the Bruins-Habs games of old, the cat-and-mouse play working wonders for Montreal who have mastered the art of eliminating composure.
The Habs failed to score on their two-man advantage and headed to third with a 1-0 lead; just 20 minutes away from slaying the bear and ending the streak on their biggest rival’s home ice.
Looking back, they probably should have capitalized on one of those power plays.
The third period was as raucous as the previous two. Scoring chances, hits, controversy, questionable calls – it was full-fledged Boston-Montreal madness; and Montreal let the NHL’s hottest team hang around far too long.
Fifteen minutes into the third, chance after chance after chance, and the Bruins finally cashed in on their fourth power play of the game.
Patrice Bergeron tipped home a Dougie Hamilton blast from the point, knotting the game at one with just five minutes to go in regulation. Great puck movement by Hamilton, Loui Eriksson and Bergeron created the chance, with the assistant captain netting the tally.
Although the cat-and-mouse game awarded Montreal with many power plays, it was their failure to convert which came back to bite them.
It was merely nibble though, as Alex Galchenyuk won it for the Habs in the shootout. A disappointing individual outcome, considering the magic that was the team-fought battle on the TD Garden ice, but it is what it is.
The streak is now over. And for Boston, it’s time to start seriously considering resting some of their top players for the best possible chance at another Cup – and not another Game 6 meltdown.
This weekend’s match up featured the Thunder wearing their ECHL Heritage Classic “Rough & Ready Islanders” sweaters for the final time on the ice. It didn’t take long for things to get rough between the Stockton Thunder and the Alaska Aces on Saturday in their first meeting since the five game series in February, where bad blood boiled over and a flood of penalty minutes sunk the Thunder. This time, just 2 seconds into the opening period Thunder Captain Garet Hunt and Aces Zach McKelvie threw their gloves to the ice and let the fists fly, with Hunt landing a solid uppercut to send McKelvie to the ice and both men to the box to cool their heels. The message Hunt sent was clear and it fired up his team and the crowd.
“I think Hunt set the tone there showing the intensity right off the hop,” said Thunder Head Coach Rich Kromm on his captain’s early fight. “Their guy was willing and I thought it got the crowd involved right away. I thought our first period was really good, the intensity was good, the physical play was there, our gaps were good all over the ice and we didn’t give them a lot of room to operate.”
The spark at the start of the game launched the Thunder into an offensive drive that gave them the early lead over the Western Conference leading Aces. Corey Trivino, who has had a strong last half of the season, lit the lamp as he tipped in the rebound off an initial blast from forward Joey Diamond.
“I think it was the first shot of the game,” said Trivino about the goal. “There was a point shot that went real wide and the goalie kind of overcompensated for it. The puck bounced out and I was able to be there and basically put it into an empty net.”
Alaska would be quick to respond back, as Evan Trupp, recently down from the AHL fired the puck from a sharp angle and beat Thunder goalie Brian Foster as he tried to cover the shot. The puck tagged the opposite side of the net and it was a 1-1 game. Stockton wasn’t done, however, with their offensive onslaught and forward turned defenceman Ben Rosen blasted a shot from the left point and nailed the back of the net after Corey Trivino made the initial pass. Rosen topped his goal by blowing a kiss to Aces goaltender Coleman to make it a 2-1 game.
Stockton forward Joey Martin gave Corey Trivino a perfect drop pass in the slot to give the Thunder a 3-1 lead in the second period on the power play. The goal came at the end of a long passing cycle that had hemmed the Aces in their own zone. Martin had spent some time up with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and it was his first game back. Before heading to the AHL, Martin and Trivino had been linemates, and they had been quite successful generating a solid offensive game.
“Things just seem to be clicking,” said Trivino on his 4 point night. “Martin came back today and before he got called up we had some pretty good chemistry. Its the best of both worlds… you don’t want to see a guy come down but he is down here and we’re making the best of it and everything was firing on all cylinders tonight.”
Martin would then get a goal of his own to put the Aces in a hole 4-1. It would be dangerous to assume that the game would go Stockton’s way, as Alaska’s highly skilled team would make a comeback in the third.
Aces goaltender Gerald Coleman Checks Ryan Hayes
“They came at us in the second and took a little bit of momentum away,” Coach Kromm said of Alaska’s rally. “Still going in 4-1, we should have been able to handle that lead.”
Just when it seemed that Stockton had contained the Aces top line with Sivak and Mazzolini, the Aces captain got the puck behind Foster and it gave Alaska life in the third period.
“When you give a team like that life,” Corey Trivino said of the Aces goal and the momentum shift in the third period, “they are really skilled and they are able to capitalize when they have a chance.
In fact, three unanswered goals came from Mazzolini, Findlay, and another by Trupp to tie the game at 4-4 and send it to OT. If the third period was anything, it was foreshadowing for what was to come during the Sunday matinee game.
Thunder defenceman Lee Baldwin got the game winner in overtime, with Joey Martin notching another assist for a 3 point night. Despite the rough third period, the Thunder looked solid controlling the pace of the Aces play and their power play came together especially with Martin back in the lineup, generating a number of scoring opportunities.
Corey Trivino slips the puck past Coleman
“We had different guys in different spots,” said Coach Kromm. “We had Martin on the weak side playing up top and he’s pretty creative. I think that unit moved the puck really well, and it paid dividends for us. They showed some pretty good patience and created some opportunities.”
After coming off an overtime win on Saturday, Sunday’s game would turn into a nightmare for the Thunder as the Aces picked up where they left off during the third period of Saturday’s game, and it was clear that Alaska had done their homework.
“They got the jump on us early and it almost seemed like everything that was going to the net, certainly not faulting Parker Milner, but it seemed everything found a way into the net,” said Coach Kromm. “They made some great plays; they didn’t have an overload of shots but capitalized on some real quality scoring chances.”
The game was a blowout 7-2 with Alaska scoring four goals in the first period alone. Forwards Brett Findlay, Peter Sivak, and Evan Trupp did early damage with Trupp garnering 4 points with 2 goalsand2 assists in the period. Foster then came into the net for the Thunder but it wouldn’t be long until the Aces would strike again.
Aces Forward Jordan Morrison opened the second period with a goal and Zach McKelvie netted a shorthanded goal to give Alaska 6 unanswered tallies. The Thunder would finally find the back of the net as Sean Escobedo got the puck past Aces goaltender Aaron Crandall, who made his pro debut. It gave Stockton a bit of life but the enormous hole loomed with just 20 minutes to play. It would take a literal miracle on ice to turn the tide for the Thunder, but the Alaska snipers struck one more time, with Tommy Mele getting the seventh goal on the evening. Thunder forward Alan Quine, a recent addition from the Sound Tigers, got his first ECHL goal, but it didn’t do much to heal the gaping wound the Aces left in their wake.
The Thunder will need to do some serious soul-searching to capture their stride before the Idaho Steelheads roll into town for a three game series that is broken up by a quick road trip to meet the Ontario Reign this coming weekend.
The New York Rangers, who have been inconsistent this season, are finally on a winning streak.
Goaltender and Ranger vet Henrik Lundqvist just pulled in his 304th win versus the Phoenix Coyotes in an exciting overtime win. Leading the franchise in all-time wins, the Rangers organization is proud to have Lundqvist minding the net. Being 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, with 84 points in the Eastern Conference, New York is focusing on clinching a playoff spot.
Playoff style hockey has been in full swing for the past couple of weeks, and spots in the Eastern Conference couldn’t be tighter. The Rangers are only a point behind the Montreal Canadiens, and just one point ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers. Lundqvist stated in an interview that the communication between him and his defenders has greatly improved. He also mentions that all the little things you do right add up, and success is the result.
Tonight’s game against the visiting Phoenix Coyotes didn’t look hopeful at first, falling 2-0 at the end of the first period. But after intermission the Blueshirts recooperated and ending up scoring two more goals in the second period to tie it up from Brad Richards and Derek Brassard. However, Phoenix centerman Kyle Chipchura scored on a deflected shot making the Rangers trail behind once again.
In the third period, Dan Girardi tied Phoenix 3-3, forcing the game into sudden-death overtime. The Broadway Hat goes to Ryan McDonagh, who found the back of the net in a surprising, and much needed, overtime win.
How can you, a hockey lover, be near your favorite team? Is it possible to greet your favorite hockey player almost ever day? Can you watch your team work out and hear the coach shout tips and other sayings across the ice? There might be a chance that you can do that and much more.
As a writer for this site I visit different websites to update on everything ‘hockey’. This way I don’t miss out on interesting tidbits of news and mayhem. Well, (for something to do) I just pressed the word ‘jobs’ on the NHL site. Lo and behold, a gold mine was placed before me! A secret of massive proportions was staring me in the face.
Right in front of me were jobs that need to be filled by the teams themselves. That’s right. You can apply to your favorite team for a job already posted or you can send in your resume for up coming jobs. Wow! I always thought that you needed to go to the ice rink, try to find ‘the guy’ and beg him to take your resume. I didn’t think it was so easy! Right now at this very minute teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks and many more are looking for people with different skills. Even the NHL has job openings.
You can stay in your job that you have had for years or you can take a leap and think about life working alongside your favorite team. Talk it out with your friends, parents and of course your soul mate. ( if you want them still to be your soul mate, you would?) Then spin the dice!
What an ice breaker?
Guy 1- ‘so man, what do you do for a living?’
Guy 2- ‘well, I got a job working with my favorite hockey team’
What a conversation starter, you can be the life of any party!
So, next time you are thinking about changing jobs, then look on the NHL website! You never know! Good luck!
This is an important time of the year for a lot of teams around the AHL. At the start of the weekend, none of the teams had clinched a spot. That is different now, with Texas earning a spot yesterday, but that means there are still 15 spots left to be decided. With teams playing within their conference so much, every game counts and every point matters.
The Worcester Sharks had put together an impressive streak coming into the weekend. They were on a 6-game winning streak, having swept the past two three-in-three weekends. That is not an easy feat to accomplish, especially given the way the Sharks had been struggling lately. It was giving everyone hope that they might be able to do the improbable. With a few changes to the line-up, the Sharks were making a late season push to make it into the post-season.
Worcester opened their weekend with a game against the Springfield Falcons. The Sharks were looking to extend their winning streak to 7 games. Despite getting off to a slow start and being down 1-0 at the end of the first period, it seemed like they might be able to pull off a win. They got two second period goals, from Bracken Kearns and Dan DaSilva, that sent them into the second intermission with a lead. The line of Kearns, DaSilva, and John McCarthy has really seemed to be gelling and putting forward a lot of pressure. With an assist on the Kearns goal, DaSilva also tied for the all-time lead in points as a Worcester Shark.
Unfortunately, the third period was where it fell apart. The Falcons put up three third period goals, including one just 22 seconds in. The Falcons got goals from Dana Tyrell and Matt Taormina, both recent additions acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline, along with Sean Collins. Worcester just did not look like they quite had the fire that they had been playing with while they went on their winning streak.
Saturday night’s contest was even more important. Although the Falcons are also in the Eastern Conference with the Sharks, the Hershey Bears are one of the teams Worcester needs to jump over in order to slide into the playoffs. So when the Bears came into Worcester on Saturday, everyone knew it was important.
The pace of the game for most of it seemed to be firmly in favor of Hershey. They were hitting harder and getting the better quality shots. Sharks goalie Harri Sateri was making some important saves and that kept the Sharks tied at 1 going into the second intermission. The lone Sharks goal through the first two periods belonged to Freddie Hamilton.
Just about halfway through the third, Hershey retook the lead and it seemed questionable if Worcester had it in them to fight back. But the Sharks were not willing to go down without a fight. They ended up putting up 18 shots just in the final frame. They also added 3 goals in just 3:15 of hockey during the last six minutes of the game. Dan DaSilva lead the way, netting his 15th of the season and taking sole control of the all-time lead in Worcester Sharks scoring. A minute later, defenseman Taylor Doherty shot him a rocket from the blue line. Then two minutes after that, Travis Oleksuk added a tally of his own, putting the Sharks up 4-2 with just under three minutes remaining.
It was a stunning finish for the Bears, who had thought that they had the game under control. It was an important win for the Sharks as they looked to make that push towards the end of the season to sneak into the playoffs. The Sharks would then wrap up the weekend with a Sunday afternoon game in Providence against the Bruins. This was an equally important game as the Bruins occupied the 8th and final spot in playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
Providence opted to start Malcolm Subban who has proved extremely difficult for the Sharks to solve. With the exception of one game, where the Sharks beat Subban and the Bruins in the shootout, he had won every other match-up. This game also marked Sharks Head Coach Roy Sommer tying the all-time record for most games coached in the AHL with 1,256.
The game between the two fierce division rivals started off very physical. Although the Sharks had not been fighting as often lately as they have in the past, there were three fighting majors through the first half of the game and an instance of matching roughing penalties. This newest line-up for the Sharks has a number of players that are looking to prove what they’re all about.
The first score of the game did not come until 38 minutes had passed when Bruins’ Justin Florek beat Harri Sateri. The Bruins took the lead into the second intermission. When the third period came, the Bruins extended their lead with a goal by Zach Trotman. But, less than a minute later, Dan DaSilva would continue is hot steak with his 16th goal of the year. His 16 goals and 17 assists have come in just 49 games after he started the season in the ECHL with the Ontario Reign.
Despite DaSilva’s goal, the scoring would be done for the game and Bruins held on for the win. With the loss to a team the Sharks need to catch, their playoff hopes got a little further from being a reality. The Sharks have not yet been mathematically eliminated from the post season but will need to put together a truly incredible end.
The Sharks will be right back at in this weekend, visiting Manchester for the final time of the season to take on the Monarchs on Friday night. They’ll then close out their weekend by visiting Albany for the second of two meetings between them and the Devils this season.
Just days after Carolina Hurricanes defensemen Justin Faulk celebrated his twenty-second birthday, he signed a $29 million, six-year extension with the Hurricanes.
Faulk’s annual pay will be broken down like this: $2.5 million in 2014-15, $3.5 million in 2015-16, $5.5 million in 2016-17 and 2017-18, and $6 million in 2018-19 and 2019-20, for an average annual salary-cap figure of $4.833 million.
Canes General Manager Jim Rutherford said, “Justin has proved to be among the best young defensemen in the league as confirmed by his selection to the U.S. Olympic team. He has been, and will continue to be the anchor of the Hurricanes’ defense for years to come.”
The South St. Paul, Minnesota native is in his third professional season. In the 2013-2014 season, he has scored three goals and earned 21 assists (24 points) in 65 games played, and ranks second on the team in average ice time per game at 23:21.
During his time in the NHL, Faulk (6’0”, 215 lbs.) has scored 16 goals and earned 45 assists (61 points) in 169 games with the Hurricanes. He has led all Hurricanes skaters in time on ice per game in each of the last two seasons, averaging 22:50 per game in 2011-12, and 24:00 per game in 2012-13. Faulk was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team in 2011-12, becoming the eighth player in franchise history to receive that honour. At the 2012 All-Star Game in Ottawa, Faulk was one of 12 NHL rookies selected to participate in the Skills Competition.
In late January 2012, he represented the Hurricanes as one of 12 NHL rookies selected to take part in 2012 NHL All-Star Skills Competition in Ottawa. He turned professional in 2011 after helping his University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs to the NCAA championship during his freshman season. Before that he was part of the United States National Team Development Program which has helped him to be in several international competitions.
The St. Louis Blues battled the Pittsburgh Penguins, and came out victorious with a 1-0 win. Brian Elliot had the shutout for the Blues, stopping all 33 shots and earning his fourth shutout of the season. David Backes had the lone goal in the third period in this playoff worthy match-up.
Neither goaltender was willing to give up a goal in the early stages of the game. After going scoreless through two periods, with the Blues managing to kill off a few key penalties, they were determined not to give the Penguins any momentum. It wasn’t until the third period that the Blues cracked the tie and put the puck past Marc Andre Fleury. Alex Steen released a slap shot from the point that deflected off of Backes and into the net.
The Blues then held off the Penguins for the remaining eight minutes of the third period. These are two of the top teams in both the Eastern and Western Conference who are both in the hunt for the President’s Cup. This game was sure to get fans fired up for the playoffs.
The St. Louis Blues clinched a playoff spot with the help of the Boston Bruins beating the Phoenix Coyotes 4-2 on Saturday night. This is the third consecutive season the Blues have reached the playoffs, and the 38th time in franchise history.
The Blues continue the hunt for the President’s Cup against the Toronto Maple Leafs at 6PM (CST) on Tuesday, March 28th.
There comes a moment in every game when you realize that all of the crossed fingers, bargains with the hockey gods and adherences to the superstitions are just not enough to help a team that, for some strange reason, appears determined to lose. You know that the team really hasn’t chosen to lose, but their play seems to say otherwise. Such was the case in the Hockey East Championship game with the University of New Hampshire’s Wildcats on Saturday night.
It was such a dramatically different team on Saturday than the one that took the Providence College Friars to task on Friday night, that the question loomed — What is the team doing?
On Friday night, the Wildcats were clearly determined. Their passing was crisp. Their goalie was strong in the net. And when the final buzzer sounded on the second of the two semi-final matches, the Wildcats had gotten the job done in a manner that spoke loudly of their resolve. After all they had made the Friars goalie look like a rookie, scoring three unanswered goals in the second period; the first of which was a short handed goal by senior Kevin Goumas. Goumas would go on to get the third goal for the Wildcats with just .04 seconds left on the clock in the second. That shouts determination.
Everyone had expected the final to be a tilt between the University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks and the Providence College Friars. The River Hawks were the defending champions and were determined to prove that their win the previous season had not been a fluke or one-hit-wonder. And the Friars had Jon Gillies between the pipes. The 20-year-old New Hampshire native has represented his country three times, including the last two years in the IIHF World Juniors. It was expected that he would deny the Wildcats.
Kevin Goumas Hockey East Semi-Finals
When asked after the win on Friday about if he was thinking about the possible end of his season because he was a senior, Goumas admitted that indeed he had been thinking about it and was determined to make sure that each game wasn’t his last. Given his play that night it certainly sounded like he was walking the walk. Another motivation for the Wildcats for Saturday was their need to win in the Hockey East Championship to earn a slot in the NCAA Hockey Tournament. They were the only team of the four teams who played on Friday night who needed these points.
So it was anticipated that Saturday night’s match would be one for the books in regard to watching one great hockey game. After the first period though, having seen the River Hawks score two goals and watched the Wildcats come out sluggishly, it appeared that instead of a game for the ages it would be one for the River Hawks to school the Wildcats in how to win a hockey game.
Of course, in hockey, 40 minutes is still a lot of time and a lot can happen to right the ice–or in this case tilt it even further in favor of Lowell. For the UNH fans, it no doubt got tiresome listening to the announcer with his rhyming “Looooowell Goooal.”
Connor Hellebuyck
There was never a moment during the game that it looked like the Wildcats had given up. They continued to pester the opposition and put pucks on goal. Unfortunately for them, as the score mounted in favor of the River Hawks, it began to look like the Wildcats had a better chance of scaling Mount Everest than getting rubber past Lowell’s goalie–Connor Hallebuyck.
In fact, for the second year, as the River Hawks won, Hallebuyck would be named the MVP (the first player in the 30-year history of Hockey East to do so). As the score reached the 4-0 mark, it was remarked that in his collegiate career he had allowed four goals in only two games. If the Wildcats were looking for a silver lining in that statement, it may have been that Hallebuyck’s collegiate career was only in its second year. Of course, that means a lot of bad news for the schools that will play against the River Hawks for the next two seasons, because many of them will be introduced to this brick wall in front of the goal mouth.
Perhaps the most telling moment in the game though was when Wildcats head coach, Dick Umile, pulled his starting goalie, Casey DeSmith with 5:09 left in the final period and replaced him with senior Jeff Wyer. By this time the Wildcats at least had awakened in their own end and the last goal DeSmith had allowed was at 18:43 of the second. No, in this case the change was so that Wyer could play on TD Garden ice in the Hockey East Championship. That was the moment that it was clear that the coach realized the futility of the task and wanted his graduating goalie to get an opportunity to be able to tell a story later in life about actually playing in the championship instead of just watching it–albeit from the best seat in the house.
Of course the River Hawks were still in “take no prisoners” mode and would put an additional five shots on goal in that remaining time, so it wasn’t like Wyer was standing around enjoying the scenery.
As the final buzzer sounded, the River Hawks celebrated with whoops and hollers, throwing their gloves and buckets up in jubilation, having accomplished what they set out to do. At the other end of the ice the Wildcats stood, holding in their emotions.
UMass Lowell celebrates.
The UMASS LOWELL CHAMPIONS flag was unfurled and the Hockey East banner lowered so the flag could be attached. The Wildcats continued to wait; continued to hold their disappointments in check, as the River Hawks continued to hug and congratulate each other.
UNH Wildcats after loss.
Finally the torture was over for the Wildcats, as both teams lined up for the shaking of hands. Perhaps some of the Cats did it grudgingly, but such is the tradition in hockey.
True sportsmanship – handshake after battle.
And at long last the Wildcats could get off the ice, go to their locker room and allow the unhappiness to settle in. Unfortunately for them–unlike after other losses–there would be no next game to get ready for to help ease the pain. And for Goumas and the other seniors, the end of the game marked a bittersweet end to their collegiate careers.
The thing about sports is that somebody always has to lose. There’s a lot to be said for the value of competition, and putting up a good fight, but at the end of the day only one team skates away with the trophy in their hands.
This weekend, that team was the Toronto Furies, for the first time in league history.
By all rights, the Furies shouldn’t have even been in the final. They finished second-to-last in the regular season, miles behind the league-leading Montreal Stars. But you wouldn’t have known that based off Toronto’s performance in the Clarkson Cup playoffs this past weekend. They overcame the Inferno in a tight 2-3 game on Wednesday, and followed up with a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Boston in their round robin match-up. Despite the loss, Toronto demonstrated what would prove to be the heart of their game throughout the series: absolutely dazzling goalie performance and a defense that just wouldn’t quit pushing.
But most importantly, with every step forward in the round robin, the Furies kept getting better. After the loss to Boston, they approached the bout with heavyweight Montreal with a kind of steadfast determination that held them in the game throughout overtime and the shootout. Toronto tightened up their play after every match, playing tougher defense and keeping offensive pressure even in the face of CWHL superstars.
It’s telling that Toronto’s game-winning goal from Britni Smith just 33 seconds into overtime was a rebound. The Furies didn’t build their series on starpower or fancy breakaways (although, as in any playoff series, both teams had a few of these opportunities). They built their play on dogged hard work, and Smith’s determined slam of the rebound past Brittany Ott showed it.
Ott, like Furies goalie Christina Kessler, gave a remarkable performance. She made 23 saves to Kessler’s 25, and certainly lived up to her earlier performance against the Montreal Stars. The Blades were undefeated heading into the final and had allowed only three goals total. Facing that kind of brick wall goaltending, it’s no surprise that the Furies relied heavily on Kessler to keep them on an even field.
Kessler, who was named MVP of the championship game, made perhaps her biggest save against a stunning breakaway from Hilary Knight late in the third period. It was the dazzling kind of move that makes the Blades the Blades, and Kessler’s stop is certainly what made the Furies the Furies throughout the tournament. Unstoppable force meets immovable object.
Of course, if you want to talk about unstoppable forces, tournament MVP Natalie Spooner certainly earned her spot. The forward assisted on the overtime winner and scored both goal-winning goals during the round robin. Spooner’s willingness to put the puck in the back of the net in whatever way she could typified the Furies offensive strategy throughout the tournament. In retrospect, it’s hard to see why we all thought Toronto was such a long shot. That kind of dogged offensive push in front of goaltending like Kessler’s makes for a hell of a hard competitor.
Then again, that’s what the playoffs are all about: everybody shows their teeth. The question will be whether Toronto can keep theirs sharp through next year’s regular season, when they’ll be, for the first time, the league’s official top dog.
Picture from The Hockey Writers.com LA Kings Legend Rogie Vachon
(AP Photo/ Mark J. Terrill)
With a 24 save shutout performance in net, Jonathan Quick passed LA Kings Legend Rogie Vachon’s record of 171 wins to become the winningest goaltender in franchise history. He is now two shutouts behind tying Vachon’s record and three away from breaking it. Both records have stood for nearly 40 years (which tells you to just how bad the Kings’ goaltending depth has been over the years).
“It’s special and, obviously, wins are a team effort, so I think that makes it a little more special because it’s 20 guys contributing toward the win. Obviously, if it was not for the shootout, I would be another season behind (Vachon). He didn’t have the luxury of the shootout, so in my mind, I’m still chasing him.”
Following Saturday afternoon’s win over the Florida Panthers, Quick again deferred credit to his teammates.
“I said it earlier, when you talk about wins, it’s the 20 guys it takes to win a game… You know, the goalies are always kind of nominated to receive some of the, most of the celebration as far as, you know, wins and shutouts but it’s a group effort. It means a lot that I’m able to celebrate it with the guys in the locker room, too.”
Photo courtesy of LA Kings PR, via LA Kings Insider
Post game, Vachon sat next to Quick kindly obliging reporters with a double interview all the while looking very much like a proud papa at the “puppy” that had just broken his record. He noted Quick’s lightning-fast ability to move laterally as one of the things he first liked about Quick’s game saying that it’s “absolutely phenomenal. I’d never seen that before. The save that he made today in the second period coming from one side and going onto the other side to grab it, very rarely do you see that in the league even now.”
Here is the save Vachon is referencing.
Quick robs Fleischmann on the PP – LA Kings
It’s a little hard to tell in GIF form so I added the video below. Quick pushes off and snags the puck off the goal line while his team was killing off a penalty. At that point, down by two, a goal would’ve been huge for the Panthers. However, video review held up the referee’s call on the ice as no goal.
Quick received thunderous applause from the crowd and even cracked a smile (possibly from the crowd’s reaction or it could’ve been whatever he was seeing on the jumbotron).
The LA Kings Insider has more quotes from the Legend and Quick here along with some great photos.
Photo via Mayors Manor.com
Jonathan Quick wasn’t the only member of the LA Kings to reach a new milestone on Saturday as Darryl Sutter got his 501st win in 1028 regular season games coached. According to LA Kings Insider, the win ties him for 16th place with Pat Burns on the all time wins list. He also tied his brother Brian Sutter for 17th place on the NHL’s all-time games coached list. Sutter is 501-374-153 overall in his career and 91-54-22 with the Kings.
Depending on how far the Kings go in the playoffs this spring, Sutter could reach another career milestone and potentially tie Joel Quenneville for first place amongst active coaches for all time playoff wins. Per LA Kings Insider, Sutter is currently tied for third with Ken Hitchcock and tied for 11th all time in NHL history.
Prev
